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I don’t know if it’s different for a radical nephrectomy which I had done by keyhole surgery. I was in hospital two nights, one in icu and one on the ward and sent home with paracetamol and senna for constipation and told not to lift anything heavier than a cup of tea! The pain was manageable with paracetamol. Every day I walked as much as I could. To start with just once around the lounge was all I could manage! By two weeks I was almost back to normal. I went back to work at six weeks as a teacher. I suppose it depends whether your job involves lifting. Hope it all goes well for you,

Hi Busybee, my experience was like Jane’s. I was sent home with painkillers but it was nowhere near as painful as I feared and I did not even use all the paracetamol I had been sent home with, not that I can promise it will be the same for you. Mine was a laparoscopic nephrectomy, so there was one larger incision and other smaller ones. I was glad to get home after a couple of days and my husband took good care of me. They got me up and about in the hospital, walking round the ward, and I continued that, walking a little further each day. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Hi Busybee,

I had a full nephrectomy in June 2021 and was quite nervous before the operation but never the less, grateful for an intervention to remove the problem.  I was in hospital for 7 days post op but days 1 to 3 were the most uncomfortable pain wise but that was adequately managed by conventional pain relief  (Oralmorph on days 1& 2 then Paracetamol thereafter).  I think that the injections you refer to might be Clexane, which is self injected into the tummy often after surgery to prevent blood clotting.  It's not pleasant to self administer but something you can quickly get used to in my experience.  You should get sent home with at least a month's supply of prescribed medication but they might expect you to buy paracetamol over the counter.  I too was told it would take 3 months to recover and to avoid strenuous exercise and lifting during that time. I'm not suggesting that you ignore that advice but in my experience I was well and reasonably fit in less than 6 weeks.  In our hospital you had to wear a mask on arrival but not on the ward but I think that might now have changed with restrictions being lifted.  I'm a bit concerned that you lost your job due to being ill.

I hope this helps and I wish you all the best for the forthcoming operation.

Mike